After going down 1-4 to Canada in the opening match, Saina and Co. seemed to get their act together as they won all the matches, except the first women’s doubles.
World No 10 Saina started the proceedings as she saw off Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen 21-14 21-19 in a 35-minute opening match to give India a 1-0 lead. However, Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram suffered a 13-21 16-21 loss to Australia’s Gronya Somerville and Renuga Veeran within half an hour to concede the advantage.
Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka, 16, then dumped Jennifer Tam 21-17 21-13 to once again bring India back in the contest. Sanyogita Ghorpade and Prajakta Sawant then defeated Louisa Ma and Ann-Louise Slee 21-19 21-11 in the second women’s doubles match to help India take an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Anura Prabhudesai, the 19-year-old from Goa, then brushed aside Zecily Fung 21-6 21-7 in 18 minutes to seal the contest 4-1 for India. India’s qualification for the knockout stage will depend on their next match against top seeds Japan on Wednesday.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.